Abigale "Abby" Lee Miller (born September 21, 1966) is an American dance instructor, choreographer, and the director and owner of Reign Dance Productions. She was also the founder of the Abby Lee Dance Company and appeared on the reality television series Dance Moms for seven seasons. In June 2016, she pleaded guilty to felony bankruptcy fraud and was sentenced in May 2017 to one year and a day in federal prison.

Early life

Miller was born on September 21, 1966, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Maryen Lorrain (McKay), a dance teacher, and George L. Miller.

Career in dance

Miller grew up around dance in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh suburb, studying under her mother's direction at the Maryen Lorrain Dance Studio. Miller eventually took over the studio in 1995 and renamed it Reign Dance Productions. She became certified by Dance Masters of America and became a member of Dance Masters of Pennsylvania Chapter #10 in 1986, but her membership was terminated in February 2012, with DMA saying Miller's reality-TV show Dance Moms was "a total misrepresentation of our dance educators and their students and is detrimental to the dance profession."

Career in reality television

In 2011, Miller began to appear in the Lifetime reality television show Dance Moms. Miller appeared on the show for seven seasons through February 2017. Dance Moms follows the practice sessions and performance competitions of young students of the Abby Lee Dance Company.

Three spin-offs of Dance Moms are Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, which ran for two seasons and 22 episodes; Dance Moms: Miami; and Dance Moms: Abby's Studio Rescue. The latter ran for only 7 episodes. Miller has also been a guest judge on Dancing with the Stars. In 2014, Miller published a book, Everything I Learned about Life, I Learned in Dance Class.

In 2015, Miller opened a new studio set up in Los Angeles called ALDC LA. In March 2017, Miller announced she had quit the series. In July 2018, Miller announced her return for season 8 of Dance Moms.

Legal and financial problems

In December 2010, Miller filed for bankruptcy and owed more than $400,000 in taxes.

Miller began to encounter numerous legal problems in 2014. One of the dancers on Dance Moms sued Miller, charging assault. The suit further claims the show's producers encourage a violent and combative atmosphere on the show as a way to attract viewers. A five million dollar lawsuit was filed against Collins Avenue Entertainment for staging disagreements that ended in a fight between Kelly Hyland and Miller. Paige Hyland also filed an emotional distress lawsuit against Miller. The charges were dropped on the emotional distress lawsuit.

On October 13, 2015, Miller was indicted for fraud for creating a secret bank account in 2012-2013 used to hide income from masterclasses, TV deals, and merchandise sales. She was indicted with bankruptcy fraud, concealment of bankruptcy assets and false bankruptcy declarations in hiding some $755,000. If found guilty, she could have faced a fine of $250,000 for each of the 20 counts she was indicted on and five years in prison. She pleaded not guilty in November 2015. By February 2016, the case was delayed a fifth time. Miller reached a deal with the IRS criminal investigators to enter a guilty plea on June 27, 2016. Sentencing was set for January 20, 2017. However, it was postponed to May 8, 2017.

On May 9, 2017 Miller was sentenced to one year and a day in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Based on similar sentences for similar white-collar offenses, she had been expected to serve nine months or fewer. Miller will also pay a $40,000 fine, ordered to pay a $120,000 judgment and give a DNA sample relating to her felony charge. On July 12, 2017, Miller reported to the Victorville Federal Correctional Institution in Victorville, California, to begin serving her prison term.

On March 27, 2018, Miller was released from prison and transferred to a Long Beach, California halfway house to complete her sentence.

Personal life

Miller has never been married and has no children. In April 2018, she was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a type of cancer.

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